Sox favorite Nixon working his way back to bigs

TUCSON, Ariz. — The roar of adoring crowds of Fenway Park has been replaced by a smattering of applause in Triple-A Tucson.

BOB BAUM

TUCSON, Ariz. — The roar of adoring crowds of Fenway Park has been replaced by a smattering of applause in Triple-A Tucson.

Trot Nixon, once the epitome of Boston Red Sox grit and determination, is toiling for the Tucson Sidewinders and hoping at age 34 for another shot at the big leagues.

If it's not with Sidewinders' parent club, the Arizona Diamondbacks, then somewhere else, and he doesn't know why he hasn't gotten a call.

"You can ask why all day long, and you may never find the answer," Nixon said. "You just keep plugging away and doing what you can to help the team win ballgames, and let that decision be made by other front offices."

Though he's not the player he once was, Nixon hopes that someone will need a left-handed hitter who hit .275 in the big leagues with 136 home runs and 555 RBIs.

It's a long ways from those heady days in Boston, where Nixon had some of the most memorable hits in Red Sox history.

They included a game-winning two-run homer in the 11th inning of the deciding game of the 2001 AL Division Series against Oakland, and a three-run double in Game 4 of the 2004 World Series.

He spent eight years in Boston before the team let him go and signed free agent J.D. Drew after the 2006 season. Nixon signed a one-year deal in 2007 with Cleveland, where he hit .251 in 99 games with three homers and 31 RBIs.

Then he found himself out of work.

The only team to show interest was the Diamondbacks, who signed him to a minor league deal in February.

Young outfielder Alex Romero beat out Nixon for Arizona's final opening day roster spot, and to Triple-A he went.

"He's been good," Tucson manager Bill Plummer said. "He's been one of our best hitters. The hard thing about Trot here is when we do have opportunities to drive in runs, they pitch around him. It's been a tough scenario for him. He gets frustrated at times."

Plummer said Nixon still shows that famous drive.

"He's 34, he's slowed down a little bit in some of those areas, but he plays hard," Plummer said. "He still has that makeup. He knows how to run the bases, has quality at-bats, battles a pitcher and still has some power."